Digimon Online
by CANON FODDER KING
Summary: In a world where Digimon are created and controlled by humans, young Tamer Richard must work his way to top along side his partner Digimon Guilmon. However, the world is more complicated than they think and soon, they may be fighting for more than fame.
1. The Big Day

Disclaimer: If I owned the rights to Digimon I would live in Japan and not go to middle school.

_Digimon__Online_

_The Big Day_

_Today will be my defining moment as a Tamer. Either I will prove myself and be considered worthy to challenge the greats, or I will head back to square one. Back to being a wannabe…_

As Richard slowly walked to the door, his eyes watched his feet on the long journey across the tile floor of the locker room. As he walked, he could not help but notice that the floor had been painted to resemble a giant, micro-chip. _Giant, micro-chip, _he thought. _Now there's an oxymoron._ Normally these thought would make him laugh, but now was not the time for that. Now was a time for mental preparation.

_As though that will happen. I've had weeks to prepare. And I have. Physically and digitally. But I could have years and still not be psyched enough. Not for my first battle, the first one that counts anyway. I bet Guilmon's ready. Hope he is. Because Jasmine will be. And- Hey, what time is it? Gah! I'm nearly late!_

Richard hurriedly looked up from his watch and began to run. As he ran, frenzied thoughts began to run through his head. Would he be disqualified for being a few seconds off? If he wasn't, would Guilmon-, no, would **he** be up to the challenge. Should he have given Guilmon some weapons? What if-

Richard came to a screeching halt, his face mere inches from the electronic doors, which had, annoyingly enough, not opened yet (_There spray-painted green? Who are these guys trying to impress_!). Had his head remained in the clouds, he would have certainly had one rude awakening.

_Okay, keep it together Rick! Don't let your nerves get to you. You have won 86% of your matches! You only lost a few! It's over 50% so rounded that is 100%. The match was over before it began! Or, at least, it will-_

The doors opened.

Richard was instantly overwhelmed by the shear size of the room. Even though it was relatively small for a Battle Stadium, only about 1/5 the size of an American Football field as far as length and width went and about two-stories tall, but, even so, that was pretty big for this part of Tokyo. The second thing that struck him was the audience. There were three levels of balconies on either side of the room. People who paid more money got higher and got a better view. But the spectators were divided another way as well. To the right was Group 1. They supported, bet on, or were friends with his opponent. To the left was Group 2. Friends of his and people who had decided to bet on the underdog. Rick couldn't help but be unnerved by how few sat in Group 2. This would be the biggest audience yet to watch him fight. Sure there were only around 30 people, but it was a school night after all.

He then began to examine the stadium itself. As usual it was mostly a plain cement floor. Except for the middle anyways. There their was a glass disk in the floor. Every one knew what that circle was. To Tamers, it was as familiar as washing dishes or making your bed. You always wound up facing it again. And up near the ceiling was a large cement box covered with windows from which the light of many computers leaked out. Inside that box were the Programmers, they controlled the battles settings. And to the right of the field, right und Group 1, was the referee. He was dressed in his black and white, unmistakable, uniform and was holding the Flags. In his Right hand was the GREEN Flag and in his left was the RED Flag. All Tamers hated the RED Flag. They dreaded it being called into play. But it_ was_ necessary.

And finally Rick's eyes drifted to the one person in the room who mattered. The one Group 1 was rooting for. The one he had come to face. The girl across from him.

Her jeans had to be the darkest color they made, and her raven black hair wasn't far behind. Or at least mostly raven black, there was a streak of violet going down the left side of her face, covering an eye and part of her mouth. Her shirt was plain grey, matching her only visible eye, and for some reason she was wearing combat boots. Despite her odd get-up, she still gave off the essence of a powerful Tamer, and made Richard fell like a moron.

He had worn sneakers and blue jeans with a white tea-shirt with the universal Digimon symbol on it, a pixilated Agumon head using Pepper Breath over an orange _D_ outlined in blue. Over the shirt was a light blue jacket, though it was dark blue on the shoulders and back. And finally, to top off the embarrassing outfit, were the goggles strapped above his forehead amongst his light brown hair.

_What was I thinking! Only anime characters wear goggles! It's so embarrassing. Oh well, if I'm going to lose and become a laughing stock, I might as well give them a show!_

" Ready to get things started?" the girl asked Richard.

Rick grinned and opened it's to make a witty comment but all that came out was a weak; "Y-sure…" _Nice one, moron!_

His rival turned and nodded to the referee, who was clearly somewhat annoyed to be taking orders from an teenage girl. The burly fellow raised his right arm, the GREEN flag with it, into the air. "Begin sequence!"

Suddenly, all of the lights shut off. For a moment, all was shrouded in darkness. Then the disk began to glow with such intensity everyone had to close there eyes for a second. When everyone's eyes had finally adjusted enough for them to be open, it was discovered things that resembled desks had appered in front of the Tamers. Except for the two USB ports on there sides, of course.

"Okay, lets go over the rules," growled the ref. "Anyone who uses a hack will automatically be disqualified, all Digimon used in battle must have been made with official Sony/Microsoft D-Creator software, and while previously added D-Modifys and Weapons can be used none can be activated from this point onward. Understood? Good. Now, Tamers! Log in!"

At this command, both Tamers pulled their Digivices. These Digivices were blue octogons. On one end was a small screen with six buttons positioned around it. On the other, was a USB connector.

After attaching the Digivices to the USB ports, the Tamers put their D-Terminals, which resembled small laptops, on the desks. Then they pullenged a cord into the computers side to attach it to the other port.

"Guilmon! Download!" commanded Rick.

"Veemon! Download!" yelled his opponet.

At that, two screens formed, one in front of each Group. Both screens showed a gigantic tube formed of multicolored ones and zeroes. The difference was the tubes contents. In the one in front of Group one, racing through the tube was a two-foot tall humanoid lizard-like creature. Its had mostly blue skin, with a white belly and mouth. It's head was large and roughly spherical, with two conical fleshy appendages attached to the back, possibly acting as ears, a small horn poked where its nose would be, the creature also had large, five-fingered hands with short white claws, as well as 3-toed feet with stout claws. There was a yellow V-shaped mark between its large pinkish eyes.

"Veemon…" murmed Rick absent mindedly, accidentally setting off the Digimon Analyzer on his D-Terminal.

"**Veemon. Level: Rookie, Attribute: Vaccine, Alignment: Dragon's Roar, Type: Small Dragon Digimon. Veemon is known for it's up close and personal fighting style and lack of non-physical based attacks. Despite this, Veemon is fast and adaptable, making up for it's lack of long range attacks. Attack Of Choice: V-HeadButt."**

Rick tried to laugh, I mean how could a Digimon with purely close-range attacks beat Guilmon? If only he could shake that strange feeling he had in his stomach…

But before his thoughts could take a darker turn, he turned to the screen in front of Group two and couldn't help but grin. Inside that version of the tube was his partner Digimon, Guilmon, who reminded him exactly why he would win.

Guilmon appeared to be relatively small when standing in his normal bent-over tyrannosaurus-rex like stance, but when standing erect, he was actually the size of an adult human. He was a red dragon-like Reptile Digimon with yellow eyes, wing-like ears, a long and strong tail, and had the black Digital Hazard symbol on his chest. Guilmon is muscular yet a little slender with big legs, perfect for fast running. On each of his strangely large hands Guilmon had paws (something you wouldn't normally see on a Dinosaur or Reptile Digimon), and three fingers with long claws; and on each foot, he had two clawed toes and a claw coming out from the heel. One very indistinct feature of Guilmon was the stripes and triangle patterns on certain parts of his body.

Rick, hoping to lift his spirits, quickly put Guilmon's name into the Analyzer.

"**Guilmon. Level: Rookie, Attribute: Virus, Alignment: Dragon's Roar, Type: Reptile Digimon. Guilmon, who is best known for the Digital Hazard symbol on his chest meant to intimidate opponents, is capable of a powerfull FireBall attack. Little else is known about this Digimon. AOC: Unknown.**

"Thanks for having a play date with me, Guilmon!" laughed Veemon. "To bad you gotta go home early!"

"Ya, sorry 'bought that," countered Guilmon. "But I just can't miss my own victory party!"

Richard smiled. Yes, Guilmon could be sarcastic and even obnoxious at times, but he was a good fighter and a powerfull Digimon, truly a force to be reckoned with. And now it was time to teach that to Veemon…

"Hey Richard!"

"Huh?"

Turning back to Group 2, Richard found himself staring at his three only true fans(and his sister). First, there was Dan. He had been Richards best friend since second grade and always attended these sort of Tamer events(whether Richard was involved or not). He was also great with computers, and even better with Digimon.

Then there was Cory, a true-blue Digimon fan girl, although she was horrible with the creatures herself. She was kind and caring and always knew the right thing to say. Plus she always brought along her sister, Naoki, Richards third fan. While she wasn't old enough to Tame a Digimon herself, she sure was old enough to love them.

And finally there was Rei, Richards older sister. He could always count on her to… crush on his best friend and accidentally wind up at Richards battle after a long night of stalking Dan.

"We are counting on you!" yelled Cory.

Richard, attempting to resemble the hero's from his TV programs, stood up straight and smiled, offering his friends a rather out of place peace sign. This earned a quiet literal face-palm from his older sister.

Suddenly, the projector at the center of the room again erupted with light, causing the screens at Group 1 and 2 to diseapear. In there place, anew, larger screen formed at the stadiums center, showing a large,white spherical room. On either side of th battleground-to-be was a clear platform. On one sat Guilmon, on the other, his cutesy blue opponent.

"I won't have to pay the dentist bill, will I?" joked Veemon.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you're insurance 'll cover it… **along with your broken neck!**" growled Guilmon, clearly tiring of banter in favor of some goo old fashioned carnage.

Satisfied with the Tamers' preperations, the referee raised his flags.

"Let the battle begin!"


	2. PostIntro: The Greatest Game

Disclaimer: If I owned Digimon, why would I write fanfic?

_Digimon__Online_

_The Greatest Game_

The first Digimon was born in a teenager's garage in Germany. For months, he and his friend had been working on a very special project: To create Artificial Sentience.

However, the first time they reach this goal, this _sentience_ of there's did not take human form. It was at the time was referred to simply as "Digital Monster", but as others were created it's name was changed to Botamon to avoid confusion. Botamon was a small, black ball of fur with two small teddy bear like ears and two yellow, glowing eyes. By today's standards, it was a Fresh Level Digimon.

It didn't take long for the sensation to sweep the world over, and soon ever two-bit Programmer out there was building his or her own Botamon. And while two teenagers in question, Shin and Corte, were still raking in the dough on copyright law, it didn't take long for them to get bored and start altering the data.

Before long, they created the world's first two Rookie Level Digimon. Betamon and Agumon. Betamon was a small, frog-like creature with a large frill on it's back. Each of it's small feet ended with a sharp claw. It wielded electric powers and was the world's first Virus Digimon.

Agumon height could vary from reaching up to a average teenager's waist to being as tall as a motor home. It was a light orange color and shaped somewhat like a very small Tyrannosaurus. It wielded fire abilities and had a Vaccine attribute.

So finally, the two teenagers had discovered the only discovery more fascinating than Artificial Intelligence, how to make them fight!

Digimon was originally released only in Europe as _Digital Monster Maker_, but when a company in Japan invented both the Digivice and D-Terminal, it was soon released world wide as _Digimon_. Now the software necessary to design your own Digimon was available to anyone who wanted it.

However, Digimon soon became more complicated as politics became involved. After all, creating an AI for the purpose of making it fight was not exactly smiled upon by all. Soon, three clear human viewpoints on Digimon developed. I, Dan, like to consider myself a Tamer. As a Tamer, I believe anyone who wants a Digimon should have a Digimon, and if that Digimon wants to fight, they should be aloud to fight. Then there's the Proper Digimon's Rights(or PDRers). Richard's mom is most certainly one of those. And last of all, there are D-Fighters… I really don't wanna get into that right now.

I still remember when Rick got his first Digimon…

It was Richard's ninth birthday. All of us were there(except Cory's little sister, she was still little). We had just finished eating cake when Rick's dad came in with a box.

"Richard we have a very special gift for you, but we want you to get out of all this stupid Tamer nonsense. We want you to treat your Digimon right. He's a friend, not a toy to throw at other toys."

"I understand Mom. I promise."

Of course, he lied. Within one week, he had designed his Fresh Digimon, Jyarimon. Four weeks later, it had reached it's In-Training Level form, Gigimon. It became Guilmon a total of nine months after being created, and after that it was consistently in and out of the fighting ring.

For a while, his parents turned a blind eye to his Tamer activities, but when his older sister Rei received a Digimon for her birthday and began acting like a model PDRer, Rick got sent to 'Digital Peace Camp'. I decided to go along. After all, anything revolving around Digimon can't be all bad.

And it wasn't that bad. They had a special trail lined with hologram generators that provided the illusion of walking alongside your Digimon. Using these resources, Rick was better able to bond with his pal, Guilmon. It was the same for me and my Digimon.

Of course, fighting was against the rules. But with some good old fashioned hacking, I was able to set up a system where the kids there could battle each other as well as other kids online. It took awhile for the camp counselors to figure it out, but when they did they kicked out both myself and Rick. Rick was grounded for a month. My parents don't care one way or another about Digimon, so I got off Scot Free.

Rick has always been a good Tamer, but he's never done anything that big. But now, with him being fifteen and not so much under his parents thumb, he's begun to battle a lot more. In fact, he very recently got challenged by a Jasmine, a professional Tamer. It could be his first step towards fame, or the battle that ruins his record. I just really hope it doesn't blow up in his face…

Note from CFK: My apologies to those who were bored by this chapter, I just thought _D-Line_ could do with some back-story. And by the way, it was supposed to be a post on Dan's blog or something.

More on the Guilmon vs. Veemon battle next time!


	3. Fists and Fire

Note form CFK: **Please review! I can tell your reading this from the traffic page! Drop me a line already**!

Disclaimer: If anyone personally knows the guy who owns Digimon, could you ask him if he'd liked to trade places with a fanfic author?

_Digimon Online_

_Fists and Fire_

At the referee's command, both Digimon leapt at each other from across the battleground with their powerful digitized leg muscles. For a moment, Guilmon question how wise it was to get up close and personal with a Digimon who specialized in physical attacks, but such thoughts quickly gave way to pure, unadulterated bloodlust.

As the opponents drew closer together, Veemon took a swing at his rival. Guilmon quickly countered the attack with his own claw, only to have the blue Rookies other fist imbed itself in his cheek. This wasn't going to go quite as smoothly as he thought.

It was not long till the Digimon went from soaring across the area to falling into the abyss. Mercifully, the programmers created platforms beneath the two combatants.

Guilmon turned to face his rival, a smirk on his face. "**Nice punch you got there kid. Who taught it to you, your grandmother**?"

Veemon returned the gaze, a good hearted smile on his face in place of Guilmon's sarcastic grin. "No, that one I made up myself, _here's_ what my grandmother taught me."

With no small effort, Veemon jumped farther into the air than what seemed reasonable for even a Digimon. When he reached the end of his accession, the Rookie angled himself downward at such angle he was falling face first toward Guilmon. "_V-Punch!_" Make that fist-first.

"Guilmon, look out! It's one of his physical-based special attacks! We have know idea how much damage that can do!" Richard lectured his Digimon through his Digivice, really hoping Veemon would not get the match's first major hit.

From across the room, Jasmine smiled at the inexperienced Tamer, apparently knowing all too well how much damage her partner could inflict.

"**Relax, chief**", growled Guilmon to his partner. "**I know perfectly well how royally screwed I am right now and I could do without you reminding me**!"

With a sudden boom, Veemon clashed with Guilmon and, by extension, the platform. The explosive attack raised a seemingly impossible dust cloud.

It didn't take long for the cloud to dissipate revealing that not only were the two fighters missing, but a hole had been created in the platform.

After a few moments of confusion, the Programmers were able two refocus the screen on the deadly duo, who were now free falling through the air, clinging to one another. Guilmon's jaws were but centimeters from Veemon's throat, angrily gnashing in anticipation for the kill, with only Veemon's hands, which were currently making a desperate attempt to push the fearsome fangs away from himself, to stop them.

Many of the spectators on Group 1, most of whom had not seen Rick fight before, gasped in surprise as the close up shot revealed that Guilmon's eyes had narrowed into primal, raptor like slits. This had at first greatly disturbed Richard as well, but he had grown to associate the deformity with victory.

Yet again displaying there infinite mercy, the programmers summoned a new platform beneath the fighters. Unlike the first few, it was large enough for them to get a fair distance from one another, but still small enough to make the fight interesting.

Finally landing, Veemon decided it was time to take charge. "_V-Kick!_"

The attack struck Guilmon in the eye and sent him sprawling. Luckily, it took mere seconds for Guilmon to get back on his feet. He couldn't have the enemy take advantage of his exhaustion.

"Well then, up already? You are very persistent! It's been awhile since I've had a fight like this. What software are you running?"

"**Grrr**…"

"Oh shi-"

Before Veemon could finish his curse, having found this was the wrong time for banter, the small dragon was in Guilmon's grip, as they rolled towards the end of the platform.

"Here we go again." murmured Richard, tired of the repetitive falling.

Before the two quite reached the brink, however, Veemon used his extremely strong legs to kick Guilmon into the abyss, while also using the Virus Digimon as springboard to get back up towards the top of the arena. As his ascent began to slow, the small dragon clung to the nearby wall, which upon closer inspection seemed to be made of ones and zeroes.

Guilmon, on the other hand, had managed to fall far enough that he was now standing on the actual floor of the spherical chamber. After a moment of being dazed by the fall, Guilmon's eye's refocused on Veemon, who now clang to wall in the same manner a young child might cling to a wall on the deep end of the swimming pool.

"**Coward**", roared the angered Virus. "**You challenge me to this fight only to cower above me like a freaking chandelier!** **You will die today**!"

"Um, okay(chandelier?)… Your crazy, I get that, but what's with the eyes and the voice(I mean **voice**). I know you're a Virus, but this is extremely excessive. Oh, and in case you've forgotten, Digimon don't die."

"**We'll make an exception**."

"Ooookaaaay… that _would be _really freakin' scary, coming from whatever the heck you are, except for one thing. My so called _cowering, _it's called strategy." Veemon face cleared of emotion, for the first time in his life he was completely focused. "_Hopping Kick!_"

Suddenly, Veemon was rocketing towards Guilmon feet first, intent obvious. When he struck hi primal rival, there was a loud thud sound and gathered momentum ricocheted him back to his previous perch. Unsteadily, Guilmon rose up on his hind legs. If he had been an organic construct, there would definitely have been blood.

"_V-Punch!"_

Guilmon, ready this time, quickly adjusted his location away from what was about to be Veemon's personal ground zero. Veemon, expecting him to do this, easily realigned himself and struck Guilmon in the head once again, this time so hard it drove the Digimon far enough up the wall that he fell back down to the floor, creating a gigantic dust storm as he did so.

Richard was getting concerned for his friend. "Guilmon… Look, it's not too late to get out of this…"

"**Shut up. We are ****not**** forfeiting**."

"But, Guilmon-"

"**Shut up and stop being weak! It's our job to kill this bastard, so if you wouldn't mind leaving me **_**the hell **_**alone while I do the work for both of us… I won't fail**."

"Veemon, it's time to end this. Remember what we rehearsed?" Jasmine spoke for the first time since the battle began.

"You got it boss! Time to show them how a _real_ Digimon fights!" Veemon howled with laughter, mainly due to relief. For some reason, Guilmon had really convinced him that this would be his last day.

"_V-Takedown!_"

For a third time, Veemon went flying at the wounded reptile. Upon striking, Guilmon was hit simultaneously with both the head and fists. Striking him down.

"Guilmon! No!"

Richard looked up from the screen to find that it had been Naoki's scream. Both her and her sister's eyes were brimming with tears at seeing Guilmon in such a state. Dan was obviously concerned. Heck, even Rei looked tense. Clearly this battle was stressing Rick's friends out as much as it was him, but with his partner with one foot in the grave, this did little to comfort him.

Looking back to the screen, Rick found himself staring into a very depressing image. Veemon was half way back to his safe spot and Guilmon was hidden by a large dust cloud Veemon had created.

Then the dust cloud began to glow red…

"_**Pyro Sphere**__!_"

Out from the dust came a powerful ball of concentrated heat, clearing enough of the dust away to give the spectators a clear view of Guilmon, battered, yet still radiant with confidence.

Then the Pyro Sphere made contact with Veemon, instantly reducing his right arm to data which was then absorbed into the walls and, presumably, back into Jasmine's Digivice.

"My arm!" yelled Veemon, absorbed by the pain when he should have been concentrating on grabbing the wall. Instead, he crashed into the wall and began the long fall towards the arena's floor.

Guilmon, having locked on to his blue adversary, promptly opened his mouth and fired off multiple Pyro Spheres. His throat sounded like a cannon.

Richard smiled, the same smile his opponent had used upon Veemon's first use of _V-Punch, _at Jasmine_. _She looked horrified. Rick, on the other hand, was relieved. It had been touch and go there for a moment, but now victory was all but definite.

After taking eight spheres to the face and abdomen, Veemon had finally passed out. Now Guilmon just had to play the waiting game. After what seemed like forever, the dragon finally crashed to the ground, creating a finale dust cloud to hide his disseminated body. As the smoke cleared, it didn't take a genius to see that Veemon had regressed to his In-Training stage.

For one, he had his arm back. And while he was still a biped, he had grown a lot smaller. The yellow marks on his face were gone along with the horn on his nose and his entire face was white. His mouth now seemed rather cat like and his once pronounced muscles had completely left.

"Hi Guilmon!" DemiVeemon called playfully. "You wanna play some more? I'm not strong enough to fight but we ca-"

"**JUST DIE ALREADY**!"

And without warning, a gigantic Pyro Sphere emerged from Guilmon's mouth, totally and completely destroying DemiVeemon.

Jasmine flinched, as though she too were to be destroyed.

The audience was silent for a second, unsure of how to react to such bizarre brutality. Guilmon took this time to revert his eyes back to normal. After another moment of stunned silence, Group 2 began to cheer. They were quickly followed by Group 1, who also broke out into applause(except for the ones who had bet money on Jasmine).

"The match has ended, Richard Yagami/ Guilmon is the winner!"

Happily, Guilmon turned his eyes to his Tamer. "We won, Rick. I thought I was gonna die there, but… we did it."

Richard smiled at his partner Digimon. "Yes we did, Guilmon. Yes we did. Guilmon, Log Off!"

As Richard unhooked his Digivice and D-Terminal from the desk, he was unexpectedly approached by Jasmine. She reached out her hand. After staring at it for a second like an imbecile, Rick reached out and shook it. The audience broke into cheers one last time before the Tamers headed off to there separate locker rooms.

As Rick reached into the locker to retrieve his Tamer bag, back pack, and soft drink, his D-Terminal began to vibrate. Upon opening it he found himself staring at his friend's Digimon, Terriermon and Tanemon.

Terriermon was Dan's partner Digimon, a Vaccine/Rookie. He somewhat resembled a bipedal white rabbit. He had a horn on his forehead and green markings on his ears and neck.

Tanemon, in sharp contrast, was a Data/In-Training Digimon, and Corey's partner. She resembled a head of lettuce with a white face, big red eyes, and four small feet. Unlike Guilmon and Terriermon, who were both accomplished fighters in their own right, Tanemon was very weak. Especially for a Digimon with a non-PDRer for a Tamer.

Guilmon was also there.

"Hey Rick! The other Mons stopped by to say hey!" said Guilmon excitedly, doing that annoying thing of talking for other people.

"Ye-yeah", stuttered Terriermon, as he had a tendency to do. "Da-Dan wa-wanted me to tell you that the whole Puh-Pyro Sphere thing was am-a-amazing."

"Oh yes it really was I mean I was so sure Guilmon was going to be dead but then he was all like "**Pyro Sphere**!" and I was just like "OMFG!" ya know it was just too awesome to believe, but I was there!" Tanemon talked so much, it made him wish Dan hadn't found a way to use D-Modifies to make there Digimon not need to brief as much as the average Digimon, so as to avoid suffocation becoming a problem in battle.

"Thanks, guys. Tell Dan and Corey that I'll meet up with them in _Digital World_ tonight if I can."

"Bye!" said Guilmon as his friends headed back to their Digivices via D-Port. But just as they left through it, a third Digimon emerged from it. "Koemon." growled Guilmon, not happy, but not going full-Slant Eyed-Heroic Sociopath either.

Koemon was a Rookie/Virus Digimon, like Guilmon, except she belonged to his sister, Rei Yagami. She was like a green monkey, a rope pulling her hair back into a pony tail. On her white face, two red markings were painter on either cheek and a "cute" cat fang emerged from her lower lip. She wore an odd rag across her abdomen that seemed to be made of leopard hide and made her look like she took fashion tips from a stereotypical cave man in a B-movie. From the side of her oval shaped head were two ears which caused her to resemble a primate almost as much as the white tipped tail emerging from her backside. She wore brown gloves, had feet that would have given Sasquatch "toe envy", and to top it off, strapped to her back was a giant slingshot that was literally about as big as she was. Oddly enough, unlike Tanemon, despite being a PDRer and thus a technical pacifist, she was at the same level as Terriermon and near as strong. Koemon was a battle ready PDRer. So all in all, Koemon was an abomination wrapped in a oxymoron who killed and ate contradictions to make her power stronger, which, in Rick's mind, fit his sister pretty well.

Koemon crossed her arms and made a face at Guilmon that told them that she didn't want to be here. "Rei just wanted me to tell you _nerds_ that she'd give you a ride home as long as you don't tell Mom she was here." Koemon then scoffed, as though trying not to laugh at the idea that they would do something like that to her flawless creator.

"Not in your dreams you ugly-"

Richard hastily pushed the MUTE button on Guilmon's Digivice before turning back to Koemon. "Tell her we accept the offer and are prepared to face the consequences."

"Humph." The abomination retuned from whence she came.

Less than five minutes ago, Rick had defeated his greatest opponent thus far, and already things were going back to normal. Had this really been his big break?


	4. Hatching Ogremon

_Digimon Online_

_Hatching Ogremon_

Richard felt an odd melancholy descending on him as he left his sister's car to return home. He defeated a professional Tamer, a goal which he'd always imagined would change his life. Yet it had only been about an hour and already he'd discussed such normal things as visiting his friends on the _Digital World_ and covering for his sister so that his die-hard PDRer parents wouldn't know she'd wound up watching one of his fights. It didn't make sense to him that these things made him sad, but today they did. They just seemed so depressively normal after such an awesome achievement.

The two Yagami siblings were greeted almost immediately by there mother as they entered the house.

"Hey, Rick! Rei! I didn't know you two were carpooling?"

"Yeah. After my match I called Rei for a ride and, being the loyal sister she is, she agreed to get me home." explained Richard, always the best liar of the two.

"Yep, I got the bugger home. Now if no one minds, I have a test tomorrow." grunted Rei on her way up the stairs.

"Night honey!" their mother called up the stairs after Rei.

"Say, Mom. Um, I told Corey and Dan that I'd meet up with them on the net. So do mind if I…?"

"It's fine with me!" she smiled. "So long as your father isn't already on."

"Um, okay. Thanks."

Rick had to admit, as nice as his mother had been lately, her Stepford Smiler act was creeping him out. For the last few months she'd been doing this. Not acknowledging that he was a Tamer, always acting so happy. It was very odd.

"Hey kid", came a voice from the living room. Richard turned to face his father. "Nice fight."

"Thanks, Dad." Unlike Mom, Rick's father was rather impartial to the PDRer vs. Tamer debate the house had once been consumed by. While initially this had caused problems, things had gotten easier over the last few months.

Entering the computer room, Richard hastily typed in the URL for _Digital World_ before plugging in his Digivice and D-Terminal. "Guilmon, Download!"

Rick watched through his D-Terminal monitor as Guilmon materialized in a large woods. It wasn't difficult for Guilmon to recognize Native Forest. The area had become a sort of meeting place for Richard and his friends. Most Tamers kept away from File Island due to it being one of the few remnants of the "old" Digiworld and this particular part of the island had been cleared of vagrant Digimon by Guilmon and Terriermon, arguably making it the safest place this side of Primary Village.

"Guilmon! There you are! I so told Corey you'd be here soon but she was hungry so she told me to text her when you showed up-I should probably do that-and then went to get something to eat. Oh I'm so glad to see you."

"Calm down there, Tanemon!" laughed Dan, his face materializing in front of some bushes in which Terriermon was most likely scavenging for berries. "We just saw them an hour ago."

Richard's face materialized behind Guilmon. "That may be, but as everyone knows, an hour for us normal people is at least a week in Tanemon time. Nice to see you guys. Hey Tanemon, would you mind getting Corey for us?"

"Sure thing!" Tanemon then disappeared presumably to drop in on Corey's D-Terminal.

"Anything good in there?" asked Guilmon as a full-looking Terriermon emerged from the bushes.

"Um, w-well there's ma-mangoes and di-Digiberres. Anything you w-want me t-to get you?" asked Terriermon, noting that Guilmon was too big to crawl through the bushes.

"Naw, I always been more a DigiKibble guy myself."

"Believe me, I know." grunted Rick. "It costs me a fortune in DigiDollars!"

"It's a fictional currency anyhow."

"Yeah, a fictional currency I could be spending on Training Gear or Dojo time rather than your big belly!"

"Um, s-so Richard, ya-you called us all here. Go-got any plans?" asked Terriermon, always the peacekeeper.

"Actually, I do. Let's wait for Corey and Tanemon before I announce it though."

After a few minutes, Tanemon reappeared. "Okay, we're back."

Guilmon looked around for a second. "Where's Corey?"

A box of text appeared:

Cory1325: I R watching U

Rick couldn't help but laugh at his confused partner. "Corey doesn't have a webcam like me or Dan. Her parent's didn't like the idea. So she communicates through keyboard."

Guilmon looked at his Tamer. "So wait, she can see us, but we can't see her? How's that fair?"

Rick shrugged.

"Anyhow, what was your plan?" asked Dan. "Since you're the one with the big victory today, I guess I'll let you choose."

"Gee, thanks Dan!" Rick laughed sarcastically. "Anyway, I was thinking we should head over to Primary Village. You know, to make sure things are cool with Jasmine."

Dan shrugged. "I don't know why it matters. You guys only just met today, and besides, you shook hands at the end."

"Yeah, but that could have just been for show, and, lets face it, Guilmon isn't exactly a gentle play-mate. The whole thing was very brutal."

Cory1325: What! Like wen v-mon busted guil's skull n?

"She has a **point**…" murmured Guilmon, a bit of his Heroic Sociopath self intruding on the conversation.

"Calm down Guilmon. What's done is done. Besides, we don't have anything for you to kill."

"Oh." Guilmon returned to normal.

"Well, I'm fine with it if everyone else is." said Dan. "Am I hearing any complaints?"

There were none.

It's not a long walk from Native Forest to Primary Village, but even so, there was plenty long enough a walk for the Digimon to be hassled by a number of vagrants- nothing Guilmon and Terriermon couldn't deal with of course.

As they got closer to Primary Village the sound of Fresh level Digimon grew louder. By the time they were actually there, it was all but deafening. Only a few years ago there would have been Tamers all over the place to collect their reborn Digimon partners. But as time went on, more and more people had lost interest in Digimon and simply left their partner in the _Digital World_ to fend for itself or, worse yet, designed a new Digimon to take their place. Thus, vagrant Digimon were created. Now many Digimon waited in Primary Village being cared for by the local caretaker till they were big enough to venture off themselves.

It was, to say the least, a little depressing. If it weren't for all the cute babies, that is.

"Ahh! Who's an adorable little guy? Huh?" cooed Tanemon to what resembled a jellyfish with a contact lens, Kuramon.

"Hmm, if I were a reincarnated Veemon, where would I be?" thought Richard as Guilmon examined the babies as a large bird might watch small dogs.

"Gu-Guys?" yelled Terriermon. "I f-found J-Jasmine."

Looking around the corner, Dan and Rick did indeed find Jasmine's large floating face as she searched for her partner's DigiEgg. As she was having trouble finding it, it was pretty obvious didn't have to do this a lot.

"Hey", cried Tanemon. "Want some help?"

Jasmine turned, clearly surprised to see people here, especially Rick and Guilmon, but quickly adjusted. "Sure, um, how do I tell which one's Veemon?"

"Well, it will look like when you just got it." said Dan.

"Of course", she said. "I think Veemon's egg has two blue dots on it."

"Not very specific", said Rick. "We all memorized how our eggs looked so that it wouldn't be a problem when we had to find it."

"Sorry", she said. "Guess I'm not really prepared"

"It's o-okay!" said Terriermon. "We'll h-help ya-you find it-t."

"Alright", said Dan. "Terriermon, you help me look over here. Guilmon, you work with Rick in the south area of the village. Tanemon gets the north. Jasmine looks in the east."

And so everyone searched through the piles of rock for great lengths of time. Finally, Tanemon made an announcement.

"Hey guys! I think I found it!"

Everyone quickly gathered.

Cory1325: gv it 2 J and see

"Okay!"

Taking the egg, Jasmine stared deeply into it, begging for the being inside to be her partner.

Then it hatched. The cuddly Digimon who emerged bore no little resemblance to DemiVeemon. Though he wasn't, not quite.

Chibomon is a small blue blob with DemiVeemon's mouth. He was adorable.

"Hey, Mama", he gurgled. "Can we play again?"

Everyone laughed, except Guilmon. This was a confusing experience for him. Every other time he won the opponent stayed dead, in his mind at least, and he didn't have to deal with them again. But now, here, he could smell the data, and it smelled like revenge.

He could also smell vagrants.

Whipping around to face a hill bordering the village, whose ground was made of large squishy blocks which squeaked when you steeped on them, Guilmon growled. The other humans and Digimon followed his lead to discover some unexpected opponents.

It was not difficult for Richard to identify the red-Mohawk wearing green humanoids. They were Goblimon. Vicious Rookie viruses who wielded large clubs, they were some of the only vagrants who didn't flee to Server Continent after Guilmon and Terriermon swept File Island of enemies. They'd been problems for quite some time, but sightings had gotten rarer as time went on. Many believed they had left for good. So much for that.

After a moment, the tallest of the rogues stepped forward. "Well, this is actually kind of awkward. See, we showed up awhile before you, hoping we'd grab the egg before you showed up", Goblimon produced an egg which highly resembled Chibomon's before tossing it a good a hundred yards back into the pile. "Apparently we got the wrong one. So, thanks for finding it for us and good day."

"Are you crazy?" yelled Tanemon. "We'd never trust the poor babey with you goons! Why would you want him anyway?"

"For training. He's a very highly leveled Digimon in a very vulnerable state. Take him as he is and beat on him for a while, without killing him and sending him back here, and you could get pretty buff."

"You sickos! If you want this poor baby, you'll have to fight us!"

The lead Goblimon tilted his head in an odd, inhuman manner. It wasn't a lot, but an evil gleam shown in his once so polite eyes that hadn't been there before. It was very eerie. "We were counting on that…"

With a demonic "Whoop!" they wouldn't have been out of place in a exorcism film, the three Onis leapt from their mountain side perch into the village, landing directly in front of the main cast. Guilmon's eyes became slits.

"Th-This isn't so b-bad", Terriermon cried optimistically. "We've survived in worse odds."

"Tanemon and her big mouth…" grumbled Rick. "Chibomon! Tanemon! You two retreat to safety, you're not strong enough for this fight! Guilmon, Terriermon, time to shine!"

The smaller Digimon were not at all hesitant in following orders and quickly went in search of hiding. Unfortunately, they were forced to stop when four more Goblimon rose from the eggs, glad to join in the fray.

Concerned about the odds- which seemed to be defecting to the enemy side- Rick entered Goblimon's name into the Digimon Analyzer.

"**Goblimon. Level: Rookie, Attribute: Virus, Alignment: Nightmare Soldiers, Type: Ogre Digimon. Goblimon is a scourge to the **_**Digital World**_**. Infamous for their self-centered and violent attitudes, they are generally hated by Tamers and PDRers alike and many attempts have been made to annihilate the vagrants. Attack Of Choice: Gobli Bomb." **

"So much for your plan", grinned the Goblimon. "Looks like everybody gets to play."

"Chibomon, that means us!" ordered Jasmine.

"Okay! _Chibomon! Digivolve to… DemiVeemon!"_

"_DemiVeemon! Digivolve to… Veemon!"_

The reborn blue warrior stepped forward, ready for a fight. "You want me you stupid Digital rejects? Come and get me!"

Not one to act slowly, the leader quickly replied to his challenge, driving a club straight for the rookies face. Veemon, in response, felt flat on his back before the weapon could make contact and angled his feet in the general direction of the goblin's head. "_V-Kick!" _He struck hard and fast, leaving his opponent reeling.

Guilmon wasn't to be left behind and ran for the nearest group of three Goblimon. Lashing out with his claws, he destroyed two of the clubs before knocking all three combatants off their feet. He then used his right claw to stab through the chest of the beast to his right, doing the same on the left. _**"Fire-Mitt!"**_ Both claws burst into flames, roasting the Goblimon from the inside out. They mercifully decayed into raw data, most likely to be reborn somewhere within the village.

"_B-Bunny Blast!"_ screamed Terriermon, releasing a green orb of energy from his mouth towards a vagrant who was running at him at top speeds. The attack struck him in the abdomen before exploding and causing a large amount of damage, leaving a large scald mark and burning through the monster's Mohawk.

Vengefully, the leader which Veemon had wounded regained his footing and began running at the rabbit at full speed. Terriermon's large ears caught sound of him from nine yards away.

Spinning around, Terriermon released four more balls of energy at the attacker. Goblimon evaded the attacks with surprising agility, easily sidestepping or in some cases leaping over the "Bunny Blasts". The fourth one however, was right on target. Bravely, the vagrant raised his club and smashed it upon the incoming energy blast, which decapitated on contact. "Not as good as you thoughts you were, eh rabbit?"

"_B-B-Bunny Blas-!"_ Astoundingly, Goblimon was able to cover the remaining distance without stopping before Terriermon could finish his attack. _"Gobli Strike!"_ and with that he thrashed the rabbit Digimon with his club, almost knocking the poor dear unconscious.

"Guilmon, help him!" yelled Richard.

Guilmon groaned reluctantly. **"Don't worry Terriermon… I'm on my way, I guess."**

Surveying the battle scene, Guilmon found Veemon competently sparing with two of the thugs. Odd, less that three hours ago Guilmon had killed the career warrior, and now it seemed they were allies in arms who Guilmon's friends had all but sacrificed themselves for. How things change.

Unlike Veemon, Tanemon had taken to running away from her soul pursuer. "Please! I am low level! I don't taste good! _Go away!"_

Smiling, Guilmon decided to play the Messiah, if only for his Tamer's benefit. The Virus, with his superior speed, quickly closed in on his vagrant quarry. **"This is not the produce your looking for." **Having had his attention drawn, Goblimon abandoned the chase to examine the beast that dare challenge him.

"**Yeah. Bad idea kid."** The last sensations that this Goblimon would feel in this life are those that only the ones who've had there extremities removed before being cooked on rare know. It's best not to over examine it.

"**Need a lift?"** asked Guilmon before grabbing up Tanemon in his right claw and running off towards Terriermon, his pint sized traveler screaming all the way.

Meanwhile, Veemon dealt with his own impersonal demons. _"Gobli Bomb!"_ yelled one of the Onis, throwing a ball of fire at Veemon's face. All too easily, Veemon dodged, causing the bomb not to meet hi face, but set his hand on fire. _"V-Punch!" _and his flaming fist embedded itself in the offending Vagrant's head, proving that a fist on fire is still just a really deadly fist.

Sensing his other opponent behind him, Veemon leapt from the ground and swiftly landed behind the would-be-assassin. _"V-Headbutt!" _and the Goblimon also departed form the ground. In his case, semi-permanently.

Having finished off the two most recent threats to his existence, Veemon searched the nursery turned battleground with his eyes in search of his surviving allies and foes. It seemed both Guilmon and that weird-radish-thing were headed towards the place where Terriermon was having a fight with the vagrant's leader. Other than them it seemed one of the trio Guilmon had attacked at the start was still alive, but he was also unconscious and thus not too big a problem. Veemon headed for Terriermon.

Terriermon had greatly vanquished his energy dodging the Goblimon's wild attacks, and was thus very relieved when Guilmon arrived to aid him. _**"Pyro-Sphere!"**_ demanded Guilmon, having no time for anything bordering on witty banter. But the attack was lost on the vagrant, who destroyed the burst of energy with his club.

"You think I came out here to die_! I must have power! _Preferably from that Chibomon, but I'm not picky. Now see, dieing would mean starting over and can't afford that much time, so good-bye."

Guilmon turned to his partner impatiently. **"Can I kill him yet? He's already evil, I just gotta**!"

Goblimon cackled madly. "You want to kill and die? Happy to oblige, _just not as me!_

"_Goblimon! Digivolve to… Ogremon!"_

The being that had once been Goblimon was at least twice as tall as Guilmon. He had wide jaws filled with teeth so large they almost qualified as tusks. Two black horns emerged form his head and two earrings filled either ear. His wrists and legs were covered in belts and another one was wrapped around his waist to hold up his shorts. His club had altered as well and now appeared to be a spiked humorous. A white main ran down his back and cruelty filled his eyes. He was Ogremon.

Throwing his head back, the monster laughed. "We were wrong. I don't need you to be strong! _I am the strongest there is_!"

"**Funny"**, said Guilmon. **"I could swear I'd heard some other big green guy say that**."

Again concerned, Richard wasted no time placing Ogremon into the Digimon Analyzer.

"**Ogremon. Level: Champion, Attribute: Virus, Alignment: Nightmare Soldiers, Type: Ogre Digimon. Ogremon is an extremely powerful Virus Digimon. Capable of crushing cars and other Champions with his bone-like club, Ogremon is nothing to trifle with, Thankfully, the only confirmed sightings have taken place on Folder Continent, which is known for it's population of powerful vagrants. Attack Of Choice: Bone Cudgel."**

Richard winced. Because of their fight a once contained rather powerful monster now existed outside where it could be reasonably contained. Inside a nursery! There had to end him now.

"Um, g-guys?" asked Terriermon. "I'm feeling kind a-of fa-faint."

The rabbit did indeed look like he'd pass out from fright. Gritting his teeth, Dave looked on his creation with worry. "Just stay in there, pal. I don't want to count us out for this one."

"Ye-Yes boss."

"Okay gang", said Richard, taking charge as he tended to in these situations. "He's a Champion, so none of us are quite in his weight class. That includes you, Guilmon."

The Virus glowered at his Tamer.

"I say we give him all we've got and hope it's enough." His allies stared at him uncertainly. "It's not much, but that's all we have."

"He's right", said Jasmine. "Ogremon overconfident, this is our one chance. Everyone attack!"

Rick muttered about how that was his line as the Digimon began there assault. Using his ears to glide, Terriermon flew straight into Ogremon's face. "_B-Bunny Blast!" _The ball of energy struck Ogremon right in the eye. Terriermon looked tired. Ogremon looked ticked.

Without using an actual attack, Ogremon lifted his club and bashed the rabbit Digimon in the skull, sending him back to earth. "Dan, I-I'm really ti-tired." "Okay. Just get out of their and sit down. Whatever you do, _do not pass out_. Okay?" "Y-yeah boss."

"_V-Punch!_" Without warning Veemon leaped from behind the Champion, striking him in the neck. Reeling from the attack, Ogremon clung to his club and whirled around. Building up as much momentum as possible. "_Bone Cudgel!_" The club clashed with Veemon's head sending him head over heels.

"**Well, you're quite good**", said Guilmon, stepping from the shadows. "**Possibly the strongest opponent I've ever encountered. The whole bone thing? Brilliant. As for the Nightmare Soldier resume, who am I to judge? Well, other than a Dragon's Roar nominee, as in the army of our worlds most powerful Dragon Digimon. But despite all your strengths, your viciousness, your monstrosity… If there's anything I've learned it's this: I'm better. Better than you, Veemon, the rabbit… My base Data is near identical to Agumon's, with some modifications too make me better in every conceivable way.** **I'll kill you and not look back. So to answer the inevitable question, yes, you should leave. Now."**

Ogremon regarded the Rookie curiously. He'd never encountered such an insignificant creature that spoke so highly of itself. Clearly the reptile was mistaken, but it's confidence was rather unsettling. This had to be dealt with.

"Fine. Show me your strength, hatchling. Show it to me and I shall take it!"

Guilmon grinned. "**You and your strength. Strength's not what you need to win this sort of fight.**"

"Then what do you need?" Ogremon mocked. "_Pure determination_?"

"**No. Fire Power! **_**Pyro Sphere!"**_

Ogremon cursed as he was struck in the abdomen by a blast of heat incarnate. It powerful attack blew a hole threw his abdomen. This attack would kill a lesser Digimon, but not all monsters are created equal.

Desperate, Guilmon, who was still holding Tanemon, began dashing around Ogremon, quickly releasing spheres. While these also blasted threw him, the attack, and thus the effect, was much smaller. Finally recomposing himself, Ogremon turned around to face his foes latest attack. "_Pummel Whack!" _From the knuckles of his fist emerged a powerful dark burst of energy. The attack collided with Guilmon's and sent powerful shock waves through the air. With the exception of Ogremon, anyone who had been standing a second ago were not anymore.

Ogremon looked upon his fallen foes, deciding which to end first. "My first hunt has proven bountiful, now who wants to go right back to where they came from first?"

Wearily, Terriermon rose to his feet. "I wo-won't let ya-you hurt m-my friends!"

Dan gaped at his partner's unexpected show of courage. "Terriermon…"

Ogremon faced the cutesy Digimon. While it seemed relatively harmless, his built in Analyzer claimed it was a powerful Beast Digimon, part of a 'Combat Species', and a member of the Nature Spirits(in the same sense Ogremon is a member of the Nightmare Soldiers and Veemon and Guilmon are both members of Dragon's Roar). Despite the animals boastful credentials, he doubted it was much of a fighter. However, it was annoying and defiant so would thus die first.

Lifting Terriermon by his head, the Nightmare Soldier laughed. "Say good bye to your friends, kid. This'll be a _long _trip!"

And without further warning, he lifted his bat. "_Bone Cudgel!"_ The attack struck the Rookie across the face, sending him flying across the nursery till finally making a mercifully soft landing on the bouncy bricks which composed the Village's floor.

"Terriermon! _No!_"

Slowly, the other Digimon rose to their feet, sensitive to their allies plight. Taking a step forward, after releasing Tanemon, Guilmon prepared to go head-to-head for round two. "**You like to kill, don't you? Time to give you the experience of death**!"

"Strong words for a Mon who can barely stay on his feet."

"**Not strong enough! **_**Fire Mitt!" **_Dashing forward, Guilmon's flaming fists collided with Ogremon's Bone Club, both opponents aware of one another's respective advantages and determined to not give their foe a chance to use them. In one fast move, Guilmon was able to create a fourth hole in Ogremon's abdomen before being forced to retreat and avoid the worst of the Champion's wrath.

Veemon prepared to enter the brawl when Dan's voice suddenly filled the air. "Hold up, guys. Something's wrong with Terriermon."

Out of breath, Guilmon turned to his In-Training sidekick. "**Check on the guy, won't cha?**" He then flung Tanemon over to where the Beast Digimon now lay, crumpled in a heap.

"Are you okay? You did great against that big green goon! He was all like "I'll kill you all! Mwahahahaha!" and you were like "I don't think so, bub!" and you beat him up real good. Except for the him throwing you part… and lifting you by your face… and- hey, are you awake?"

Terriermon groaned in response. "I-I-I'm sorry… I'm s-so tired. Just a little nap…"

"No!" yelled Dan. "Stay awake Terriermon! You can do it!"

But it was too late. Already the young monster had given in to the tiredness presented by his wounds. The darkness of sleep offered it's gifts to the weakened warrior and his poor young mind gave way.

"Dang it…" groaned Dan, sweat streaming down his face. "I'm so sorry…"

Cory1325: Oh carp

Richard swore involuntarily, remembering the last time this happened.

Confused, Jasmine piped in. "Okay, it sucks that we temporarily lost someone for this battle, but no one's dead and Terriermon, sorry to say, wasn't helping that much anyway. If we're any good as Tamers we can guard an unconscious rabbit. So what's everyone upset about?"

"They aren't worried about Terriermon", explained the blabber mouth Tanemon. "They're worried for Ogremon."

"Wha? I'll kill you all! There has been no setbacks in this plan! How am I in-?"

Before he could finish his sentence, a giant sphere of green energy crashed in to him, knocking him to the ground and leaving a crater.

**This is how!**

The words seemed to come from the air itself rather than any one source. At first he was sure it was merely a production of his new hallucinations, like the giant ball of swirling green energy before him. But as he watched, the energy began to dissipate revealing it's source: a sinister-looking, floating Terriermon.

Note from CFK: Yes I'm ending the chapter hear and yes, I am in fact evil. Don't worry, we shall continue.


	5. The Device has been Modified

_Digimon Online_

_The Device has been Modified_

Gently, Terriermon descended till he was merely a few feet above Ogremon's chest. The rabbit like creature grinned at the fallen Nightmare Soldier who had once towered over him. This would be his day.

**You think your so strong, don't you? You believe that just because your twice our size and have a big mouth you can push us around and kill us at your leisure. Well now you'll pay for your sins.**

"**This is what I'm talking about!**" roared Guilmon, regaining his footing. "**But don't think you can hog this kill for yourself, puny. Your not the only one who-"**

**Silence!**

Angrily, Terriermon launched a powerful blast of energy into Guilmon's chest, knocking the Virus Guilmon was not about to take such an insult lying down. After regrouping himself, he got up, lit his claw on fire with a mighty **"**_**Fire Mitt!**_**"** leaped back into the fray.

Terriermon also prepared, gathering a large amount of energy around him to create what seemed like a green bubble, he flew off to meet Guilmon's challenge.

"Cut it, Guilmon!" commanded his Tamer, Richard. "We don't have time to mess around like this! We have to deal with Ogremon!"

"**Give me five seconds, pal!" yelled Guilmon. "This runt needs to be taught a lesson!"**

"There's no point, Richard." sighed Dan. "Guilmon already out of control and, with Terriermon like this, there's no stopping them."

"We have to try!" said Jasmine. "With Veemon out of commission and Tanemon being... well, Tanemon, they're our last line of defense."

Cory1325: I tak offense to that

And Veemon was indeed out of commission. The shock waves Terriermon had created when he rammed Ogremon into the ground had resulted in Veemon's arms both snapping like twigs. The pain had caused him to pass out and he now lay on the ground unconscious.

Tanemon was nowhere to be found.

Far off, elsewhere in Primary Village, Kuramon got a bad feeling. While his one little eye didn't see much, he made up for it in intuition. And right now his intuition was telling him that Tanemon, the only Digimon who had ever been nice to him, was in trouble.

Despite the fact he was only a Fresh level Digimon, he knew he had to help his friend. So without a second thought, he waddled off to find her.

"**You should have stayed down, Terriermon. Because now I'll have to put you down for good!"**

**You overestimate yourself, Guilmon. I brought down Ogremon and now you'll follow right behind him.**

"Those numskulls!" groaned Jasmine. "While their fighting, Ogremon's regrouping for round two. Can't you guys figure out how to stop your own Digimon?"

"I don't see you coming up with any ideas!" replied Richard impatiently. Then he got an idea. "Hey Jasmine, I know you've been a professional Tamer for a while now and mostly fought colosseum battles because of it, but don't you have any D-Modifiers lying around?"

Jasmine caught on quickly. "Yes I do! Good thinking!"

As Jasmine went off in search of D-Modifiers, Richard and Dan returned their focus to Ogremon. The Champion level Digimon had regained his bearings and now wearily watched the two Rookie level titans in their deathly sparing match. If he had been in once piece, he most likely would have entered the fray. But at the moment it looked like he had been attacked by an sentient hole-puncher and seemed to be deciding whether of not to just cut his losses and leave.

Now, normally Richard would be happy to see the beast flee from the nursery town, leaving their Digital partners safe and sound. But given that doing so would release a very powerful beast upon File Island, the Tamers' Digital home away from home, Richard was determined to see the monster destroyed. And, as much as Richard would like to deny it, at least a little of Guilmon's feral bloodthirsty nature was begin to seep into the Tamer's own personality.

Cory1325: has any1 seen Tanemon? Im woried

"Oh man, I wasn't even thinking!" muttered Dan. "Richard, have you seen Tanemon? I haven't seen her since Terriermon went all Super Saiyan."

Richard gritted his teeth. Tanemon was missing. And, due to Guilmon and Terriermon's (hopefully) temporary insanity, they had no way to search for her. Not until Jasmine-

"I'm back!" yelled Jasmine. "And I have just what we need! _D-Modify! Second Wind!"_

As soon as Jasmine ran the D-Modifier card through her Digivice, Veemon's wounds began to heal. His arms snapped back into place and the various scrapes he'd gathered in the fight faded. It was as if the battle hadn't happened.

As Veemon rose to his feet, one thing became clear.

"Ogremon, it's time to pay."

Guilmon growled as, once again, his flaming claw bounced off Terriermon's makeshift forcefield. So far, the psychotic rabbit hadn't taken a single hit since bringing down Ogremon. The greedy freak, it didn't even matter if they had been friends. Now he was the enemy, and no enemy of Guilmon's gets to live.

But it didn't take an idiot to see what was going on. As Guilmon beat himself against Terriermon's seemingly impenetrable shield, the target happily sat back and watched as the Virus beat itself to death. It was time for a new strategy.

As Terriermon's orb circled around for another blow, Guilmon, rather than igniting his claws, stood there and carefully aimed his snout, allowing flame build up within his jaws. Terriermon shot off like a rocket, prepared to destroy his reptillian ally. So in response, Guilmon fired his own rocket.

"_**Pyro Sphere!**_"

The orbs of energy and heat soared at each other at suicidal speeds. And indeed, for Terriermon, it was nearly suicidal. Without slowing down, the Pyro Sphere cut through the force field and collided with Terriermon.

As the energy ignited and gave birth to a marvelous explosion, Guilmon couldn't help but reflect on what care the Developers had used in shaping the _Digital World_'s sciences so as to create remarkable scenes like these, where in the "real world" they'd be impossible. But as the dust and flames thinned it became apparent that the target had survived.

Terriermon groaned as he used up most of his remaining energy healing the worst of the wounds inflicted by Guilmon. Then he squared off to continue their battle. He may have been brought down to normal, but he hadn't lost that fighting spirit yet.

**"Okay, freak. Ready for round two?"**

Unfortunately, they never had the chance.

Ogremon watched his two remaining adversary's recover from their fight. The rabbit was hiding it well, but the wounds he'd healed no way made up for all the power he had lost in doing so. All of the might he had used to bring the Champion to his knees had been used up. He'd be easy prey.

Guilmon was a different matter. Despite being outmatched by the once powerful Terriermon, he had dealt with him quickly and sufficiently. He was quick thinking, dangerously adaptable, and extremely powerful to boot. He was the real threat.

As for Ogremon, despite some wear and tear, he'd recuperated enough for battle. True, it would be ideal if he could eat first, but given the circumstances that didn't seem feasible. No, it was time to take a stand.

Laughing, Ogremon leaped forward, swinging his club rapidly. Guilmon dodged but Terriermon was struck on the head and sent flying. Screeching to a halt, Ogremon turned around to look his opponents eye-to-eye. Both seemed angry.

"Forgot about me, did you? That was a great mistake. Now you'll both perish! This is the-!"

Before he could finish, Veemon's fist smashed into his side, knocking him over. Before he could stand, Veemon was upon him like white on bleach. Fists flew and teeth gnashed, but Ogremon ultimately got the upper hand and threw Veemon into a large tower of giant building blocks, causing them to collapse on the blue Rookie in a heap. Despite this victory, Ogremon had no time to regain his balance before the other Rookies attacked.

"**Time to show you the definition of mistake! **_**Fire Mitt!**_**"**

**This will be the end of you, Ogremon. **_**Bunny Blast**!_

Terriermon's Bunny Blast sent Ogremon's club flying and Guilmon's flaming claws sliced through the hand that had held it, turning it to data. Growling, Ogremon managed to force Guilmon's hand into his great jaws. "_Strong Maul!"_As his teeth punctured Guilmon's claw, data began to seep out. Guilmon was able to remove his claw before it was completely destroyed, saving his arm.

With Guilmon on the retreat, Ogremon carefully raised his fist and pointed it towards Terriermon. "_Pummel Whack!"_A burst of dark energy shot from Ogremon's fist and collided with Terriermon, knocking over the enraged hare.

"_V-Kick!_" A powerful kick from a returned Veemon struck Ogremon in the back of the head.

This would be a fight for the ages.

Kuramon shifted through piles of eggs and building blocks in his search for Tanemon. So far, he had found nothing more than a small blue dragon, who had set off to join the fight several yards away without even a thank you to the exhausted baby Digimon.

But finally it picked up the In-Training Digimon's scent. It couldn't be more than a few feet away. As his maddening search began to reach it's climax, the Fresh level Digimon tripped over a leaf sticking out of a rather large heap of eggs.

Say, what a familiar leaf...

Kuramon dug as fast as he could, hoping to save his friend before she suffocated. Thankfully, this would not have actually been a problem. Due to a special mix of permanent D-Modifiers Dan had discovered for himself and his friends, Guilmon, Teriermon, and Tanemon could all survive with out air for over two hours. Of course, Kuramon had no way of knowing this.

After several minutes of excavation, Tanemon was free. Blinking at the sudden light, Tanemon looked up at her savior. "Is that you, little guy?" For the first time practically ever, Tanemon was speechless.

Unfortunately, her Tamer was not.

Cory1325: Tanemon! yur ok!

Cory1325: Tanemon! yur ok!

Everyone turned towards Cory's message as it bleeped into existence beside the two young Digimon. Which was, coincidentally, right about the place where Ogremon's club had landed.

It was obviouse what Ogremon's next move would be. Not that that helped.

With one mighty leap, Ogremon crossed the nursery, landing right in between Kuramon and the club. Grabbing his club, Ogremon turned to face the trio of Rookies. Guilmon, Terriermon, and Veemon, unfortunately, lacked the leg strength necessary to pull off the mighty leaps of which Ogremon was capable of. Still, they would be upon the wounded Champion soon enough. He needed a plan. And luckily for him, he had the two perfect hostages.

Now, while it is technically impossible to kill a Digimon permanently, there are rumors that should a small Digimon be completely swallowed by a larger Digimon, it's data would be fully fused with the data of the consumer. While it may still exist on some level, and maybe even have some form of conciseness, it would be completely unable to act or speak. A fate worse than death.

With this in mind, Ogremon grabbed Kuramonand stuck him in the Champion's mighty jaws. He then turned to face his opponents. "If you force me to continue this fight, I will swallow."

Kuramon cried quietly.

Everything was still. No one dared move for the Fresh level Digimon's sake. For two minutes the horrid silence continued.

"**Screw this. **_**Fire Mitt!**_"

Guilmon leaped forward and attempted to slice through the monster's lower jaw. But Ogremon was swift and easily avoided the attack.

Everyone watched in horror as the baby Kuramon vanished down Ogremon's throat.

Within seconds, all his wounds had healed. He also seemed slightly taller, but it was hard to tell. A line had been crossed. A life had been lost. This would not end well.

Cory1325: Tanemon, _now!_

Apparently, Corey had retrieved her own D-Modifiers.

In a very surreal moment, Tanemon increased in size till she towered above the building block towers which populated Primary Village. One of her front legs crushed down onto Ogremon and began to drive him into the dirt. Desperately, he attempted to lift the leg with his two strong arms, but it was no use. Screaming and roaring, Ogremon sank into the mountain of eggs.

With the abomination vanquished, Tanemon broke down. "Kuramon! _Kuramon!_… Kuramon..."

Slowly, Guilmon returned to normal and joined his gigantic friend in mourning. Terriermon, however, still seemed guarded and had clearly not returned to his usual, stuttering self.

"How long does he stay like this?" asked Jasmine, unmoved by the Vagrant's sacrifice. Like most Tamers, while see respected all Digimon, she held the safety of her own partner and the partners of her friends above the safety of Vagrants and opposing Tamers.

"Usually, until I return him to his Digivice," said Dan, who shared her apathy. "But he does seem concerned about something..."

**The beast is not dead.**

"What?" asked Veemon. "But I saw Tanemon squash him down! He's probabley in one of these eggs!"

Terriemon shook his head.

**That's not what I meant. He stills breathes. He's not done with this fight.**

Before Veemon could question the rabbit further, a large green hand emerged from the pile of eggs on which he stood and dragged him down. Not willing to see another friend die, Tanemon galloped forth toward the scene, but was intercepted when Ogremon's club struck her in the face and made her revert to normal.

Ogremon laughed as he emerged from the ground, throwing Veemon as far as he could before returning his attention to Guilmon and Terriermon. Guilmon's eyes reflected that his feral nature had returned.

Screaming a battle cry, both Rookies leaped forward, claws blazing and energy orbs flying. However, Ogremon wasn't like how he was before. Consuming Kuramon had granted him strength he hadn't had before. Combine that with his new knowledge of the Rookies battle strategies and he was all but unbeatable.

Guilmon sank to the ground as Ogremon's club bashed into his stomach. "**Hey Rick, hate to bug you. But do you think you could actually **_**do something **_**for change?**"

Thankfully, Richard had an idea. "Right there with you Guilmon. _D-Modify! Angel's Wings!"_

From Guilmon's shoulders, two beautiful wings of light emerged. "**There, now why couldn't you have done that earlier?**" Not stopping to hear the answer to his own question, Guilmon flew head first into battle. "_**Pyro Sphere!**_"

Ogremon gasped as a blast of pure heat collided with his shoulder. Thankfully, it didn't leave a whole. With his new wings, Guilmon was too fast to dodge. It was time to switch to offensive.

"_Pummel Whack!_"

A dark blast of energy emerged from Ogremon's knickles and struck Guilmon's right wing, causing him to crash into the ground. After a moment of inspection, it became clear no real damage had been done.

"Guilmon, I don't mean to bug you, but Terriermon can't hold his own against Ogremon for much longer. Please back him up out there."

"**Just a moment, Dan. I don't see you down here taking damage with your **_**partner.**_**And besides, to bring down a Champion it looks like I'll need a Champion's fire power.**"

"Way ahead of you, Guilmon." said Rick, returning to his deck of D-Modifiers. In most battles where D-Modifiers were aloud, you could only bring twelve. However, the standard Tamer had a deck of twenty-four, and sitting here behind his PC, Richard had all the firepower Guilmon could ever need. "_D-Modify! Breath of Greymon!"_

As Richard activated the D-Modifier, the Digital Hazard symbol on Guilmon's stomach reshaped itself into the Crest of Courage. Rising to his feet, the newly empowered Rookie soared towards an unsuspecting Ogremon.

"_**Nova Blast!**_"

The mighty ball of flame tore through Ogremon arm, the one not holding his club, and left him screaming in pain. It's was so great, it warmed several of the nearby eggs and caused them to burst into crying Digital babies. As this was happening, Veemon and Tanemon finally returned, having regained their footing and being ready to finish off their attacker.

But this was where the fight would end.

"_Super Thunder Strike!"_

A bolt of lightning suddenly struck the land in between the Tamers' Digimon partners and Ogremon, separating them. Confused, Ogremon looked up the hill to see the source of their interruption. Above them stood a small, red Digimon.

t had large red red ears and blue stripes. Eight tail feathers grew from it's hind end. Despite the being's cute appearance, it had an air of authority and seemed prepared to take on all the combatants itself should the threaten the babies.

Then it spoke. "Primary Village is no place for fighting. Please take your violence elsewhere."

Gritting his teeth, Ogremon stepped forward. "Yeah? Well what kind of pipsqueak are you to be bossing around a Champion?"

The intruder's tail feathers buzzed as a jolt of electricity passed through them. "I am Elecmon, the moderator of Primary Village."

When the _Digital World_ was created, various villages and cities were constructed within it so that some means of civilization could exist. In order to prevent violence and destruction being inflicted in these establishments, moderator Digimon were created. All moderators were much stronger than their level would normally allow, thus they would have a less difficult time facing more highly evolved opponents. Elecmon seemed to be no exception.

Curious, Richard entered Elecmon's name into his Digimon Analyzer.

**Elecmon. Level: Rookie, Attribute: Data, Alignment: Nature Spirits, Type: Mammal Digimon. Elecmon is the moderator of Primary Village. His life is devoted to keeping the baby Digimon of the area safe until they are either picked up by their Tamer or grow stong enough to set off on their own. All Digimon, except for other moderators, were at one time under Elecmon's supervision. Attack of Choice: Super Thunder Strike.**

Ogremon, would also apparently searched Elecmon's name in his own Analyzer, took a step back. "Fine. The kids are safe. Happy?"

Elecmon shook his head. "All of you must leave now. Because of you, one of my young ones has been forever lost. Ir you ever must return here, do so in an egg!"

Obliging, Ogremon faded into the trees, unwilling to lose his new found strength in a fight with the moderator.

"**Well? Let's go! We have him on the run! This is our chance guys!**"

"Yes, this is our chance," said Jasmine. "This is our chance to get out of here before someone else dies!"

"Sorry, Guilmon, but I agree. Ogremon is just too strong for us right now. We'll get him later."

"And I need to get Terriermon back to normal, too." said Dan. "This is the longest he's stayed like this."

Cory1325: Tanemon needs a break

Everyone turned to look at Tanemon, who was still sobbing over Kuramon's terrible fate, paying no attention to the babies around her.

Veemon sighed. "As much as I love a good brawl, I agree with the others."

Gradually, Guilmon returned to normal and nodded. "I guess that it's decided, then."

Sadly, the Tamers parted ways with Jasmine. It was doubtful they'd see her anytime soon.

"Guilmon, Log Off!"

Richard couldn't help but think about the fight as he attempted to sleep. It was the first time he'd seen a Digimon die. Well, _really die_. Who knows, it could possibly be the second time it had ever happened.

He wondered how bad it hurt Elecmon to lose one of it's children. It had seemed so angry.

"Richard?" asked Guilmon from his Digivice.

"Yes, Guilmon?"

"Is... is he still out there?"

Richard couldn't tell if he was talking about Ogremon, Kuramon, or Elecmon. But in the end, it didn't matter. "Yes, Guilmon. I imagine he is. But don't worry. He'll be there next time. And so will we. Like we always are."

If Richard hadn't known better, he could've sworn he heard Guilmon shiver.

End Arc 1.

Note from CFK: No, Digimon Online is not over. This is just the end of our first story arc. So hope you liked it, hope you leave a review, and hope I'll see you here next time('cause I am watching you). Bye!


	6. Carnage & Kendo Swords

Note from CFK: Hello, everyone. Hope you enjoyed last chapter(though I'll be the first to admit I'm not all that great on doing long fight scenes… maybe I shouldn't have decided to do fanfic a series that basically consists of them…). Anyway, just real quick I'd like to acknowledge those who have reviewed thus far; Thank you: gm goodyeat, Pheonix Graves, and Subterra master(now purplepeopleareawesome(all though I must ask you, Subterra, where do you get your Digimon? And may I get some also? :P)). I'm overjoyed to see everyone who matters has enjoyed the story thus far(no, people-who-don't-bother-to-review, you don't matter(but you will if you review)). Anyway, it's time to start the second arc. Our last one was pretty much a miniature arc - since it was only four or five chapters(depending on if you count Chapter 2) and took place in one night - this arc will probably be around 13 chapters. I guess it's more of a school arc then anything, but we'll see how it pans out. Well, enjoy(and review!).

PS: Looking back, I've removed the suggestion to listen to "Full Moon" from _Fists and Fire._ Don't get me wrong, it's a great song. It just has nothing to do with the chapter or the story as a whole. Well, read on.

_Digimon__Online_

_Carnage & Kendo Swords_

"Could you hurry it up in there, runt!" yelled a rather cranky Rei from outside the bathroom door. "Some of us need to look sharp!"

Richard shook his head at his older sister's impatience. "Sorry. I had to get up at freaking 4:00, and we didn't get home till 11:30 last night! Excuse me for being groggy."

"Well, it's not like it's my fault you had that stupid borderline-illegal fight. And your not the only one who's exhausted either, _bub_! **Move it or lose it!**"

Richard would have argued further, but she did have a point(plus she was starting to sound like Guilmon, and if Richard had learned anything it was that guy wasn't to be trifled with). So he took her advice and "moved it".

After lacing his shoes and eating his eighth piece of toast, Richard headed to his room to grab Guilmon. After the battle with Ogremon, Richard had made sure to heal all of Guilmon's wounds. Now the perky engine of war was awake and ready to head to school. Of course he was still on a bit of an adrenaline high from last night's battle, but Rick hadn't seen any appearances by his partner's slant-eyed alter ego, so he wasn't too worried.

"So, Rick, will we see Jasmine today?" asked Guilmon, sounding somewhat over excited for a redo of the fight that nearly killed him.

"You know we won't, Guilmon. She's too old to go too our school and besides, she doesn't live in our district." Before the reptilian warrior could ask further questions, Richard clipped the Digivice to his belt and packed the D-Terminal into it's shoulder strap equipped carrying case.

As the young Tamer passed Rei's room, he couldn't help but over hear his sister's conversation with her own partner, Koemon.

"Just ask Dan out already. He's a friend of your dorky loser brother, so his standards can't be too high."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Koemon," laughed the abomination's creator. "But Dan is the ultimate being. He's the epitome of Digitalness. And any other -ness you can this of. He's smart and funny -"

Richard gagged as his sister began to rant about his best friend's honorary god status. She most clearly needed a life. Thankfully, it wasn't his job to provide one. "Hey freak, we're going to be late if you don't hurry up!"

"What? But I haven't eaten breakfast ye- Wait! Were you eavesdropping on me you homicidal monster?"

"Unfortunately for me, kinda. But that's neither hear nor there if your ugly face isn't on the bus in six minutes. Let's go already!"

Rick quickly dodged a flying book tossed by his sister as Guilmon giggled at the rather uncreative insult. Before long the Yagami siblings were trading blows down the stair well, an event so common it was almost scheduled into the morning routine. They were stopped by their mother before they headed out the door.

"Bye, kids. Have a great day at school! Don't get too worn out."

"Oh, I won't." swore Rick before dashing out the door and off to the nearest bus stop. His sister was quick to join him as they raced to meet bus 32, trading insults as they ran.

* * *

><p>Richard found it very annoying that Rei insisted on riding the bus to school every morning. After all, she had her own car and driver's license, there was no need for her to be tagging along with Rick and his friends. Her excuse was that she was tired in the mornings and didn't want to cause a wreck, but Richard guessed that it had a bit more to do with the fact that Dan rode bus 32 as well.<p>

In fact, Corey and her sister also rode that bus. It was extremely convenient and gave the Tamers(and Naoki) and chance to talk outside of school and _Digital World_.

And today, they had quite a bit to talk about. A Digimon had died(possibly permanently), a powerful Champion Digimon had escaped on File Island, and they had been threatened by a moderator. Not exactly every day occurrences.

Richard's thought were interrupted when his friend Dan entered the bus. "Hey Richard. How are you?" he asked as he made his way back to the near-middle of the bus where they usually sat.

"Um, fine. Hey, I was wondering, do you have any theories on-"

"Hi, Dan!" interrupted Rei from the seat behind them where she sat with her best friend, Keida. "How was your night, huh? My stupid blabbermouth brother didn't keep you awake all night on that barbaric _Digital World_ fighting he does, did he? He's very inconsiderate."

"Blabbermouth?" Rick murmured unhappily. "She's the one who needs a muzzle."

"Anyway," smiled Rei. "How would like to ditch the weirdo and come sit with us?"

"Er, yeah." Keida blushed, scooting over towards Rei to make room. "I know these seats are only meant for two, but there's room."

"No!" cried Richard over theatrically. "Don't do it, Dan! They'll eat your soul!"

Dan shushed his friend before turning nervously to face the stalkers-in-the-making. "Um, thanks for the offer, but I'm good up here."

Rei hung her head in failure as Keida slumped back into a more relaxed position. "Well, if that's how you feel…"

At that point, the bus stopped yet again. This time it picked up the last few members of the main cast, Corey and Naoki. As usual, Naoki gave Richard and Dan a quick wave before taking a seat at the front with her elementary school friends. However, there seemed to be something different about the girl today. There was a mysterious sparkle in her eye, a sudden hop in her step. It was quite perplexing.

Corey continued to approach her fellow Tamers and took the seat in front of her two friends.

"Hey guys!" she greeted.

"Hi, Corey," responded Rick. "Is something up with Naoki?"

"She's just excited is all."

"Excited about what?" asked Dan.

Corey smiled and leaned forward. "In four weeks, Naoki turns thirteen."

"So?"

Dan and Corey rolled their eyes at Richards stupid question. "Because that's the legal age when your allowed to have a Digimon. Duh!"

"Honestly, Rick, you'd think you weren't a Tamer to hear questions like that."

Richard lowered his head in humility. How could he miss something so obvious? Well, he did kind of have an excuse. Back when he got his Digimon, such restrictions had yet to be put in place. That was before Digimon were widely accepted to be real animals, much less sentient beings. But on the other hand, if Rick kept up on current events like his friends he wouldn't have this problem, so it was still his fault.

Dan turned to Corey. "Has she started making the preliminary designs for her partner?"

Corey laughed. "_Has she?_ She started the preliminary designs for _fifty _partners! If you guys think she seems excited now, you should see her at home! She spends so much time in that sketchbook of hers, she hardly comes out to eat. She's _constantly_ showing us her next big idea. To be honest, it's kind of tiring…"

Rick nodded. "I can sympathize. When I got my first Digimon, I went through about four tons of paper trying to create the perfect Digimon. In the end I couldn't decide. So instead of dwelling on it, I tried a new strategy. I took the designs of one of the most celebrated Digimon here in Japan, Agumon, and improved it in every conceivable way I could think of."

"Yeah, I based Terriermon on my pet rabbit. Of course, I must have accidentally made a mistake in the coding phase, because now he gets super powerful and goes completely crazy every time he's knocked unconscious."

"Tanemon was… well actually, I think I just made her up right there on the computer."

Rick shook his head. "Oh our young artist, how long till Corey surpasses Picasso in terms of artistic talent?"

Corey shook her head and playfully punched her friend in the arm. "Oh, shut up!"

"Guys, we're here."

Richard looked out the window. Sure enough, there was good old Odaiba Jr. High, the grindstone that they had attended for the past year. Well, Richard, Dan, and Corey had attended there anyway. Rei was a Sophomore in high school and Naoki was a grade-schooler.

The building was full of unpleasant or - at the very least - boring memories, but that's school. It wasn't all bad, though. Unlike some schools, they were aloud to bring their Digimon with them. True, they couldn't battle or anything, but they could hook their Digivice to their D-Terminals so their Digital Partners would take notes while they listened to the teacher. That was the idea anyway. Usually the Digimon wound up being used to pass notes through the class room electronically or hack into the school's wi-fi connection(the password to which was changed weekly).

Of course, nothing ever stays the same for too long. And today, things were going to change.

* * *

><p>Richard sighed as two of his classmates jabbered in Italian at the front of the room. He'd been supposed to write a skit in Italian over the weekend, but he'd forgotten(and, on an unrelated note, babblefish was refusing to work on his laptop for some inexplicable reason). He didn't even know how he'd gotten roped into taking Italian. He didn't know anyone who spoke it. He'd never even seen a movie where people speak Italian. Yet, for some reason, as soon as he got to seventh grade "Boom!" Italian, 3rd period.<p>

Dan looked at him funny from across the room before hurriedly typing into his D-Terminal. At that instant, Terriermon arrived in Richards D-Terminal. And to quite a greeting.

"Terriermon!" yelled Guilmon, pouncing on the Vaccine and wrapping him in a bear hug/arm lock. "It's great to see you!"

"A-and you as well, Ga-Guilmon." Terriermon stuttered. He wasn't certain which was more frightening: Guilmon when he was angry or Guilmon when he was all hyped up and friendly like this. "D-Dan sent me to cha-check on you, Rick."

"I'm fine." Richard shook his head. "Ugh. Terriermon, please tell me we get out of here soon. The last thing I need in here is a zero."

"Momentai, R-Richard. Ba-Be patient. We'll leave in about fif-fifteen minutes."

"Great. If I get a C in here, my parents will skin me alive!"

"Don't ba-be over-dramatic!"

"Guilmon, if I die, you can have my D-Modifiers."

"Cool it! There's like, twenty kids in here who haven't been called on including you! Chances of any of the next three being you are-"

"Dan, would you mind performing your skit please?" interrupted the teacher. "Or do you need to finish your conversation first? We'll wait."

**Insert Line Here**

Richard quickly looted through his locker for the things he needed for 4th period. He'd wasted too much time talking to the teacher after 3rd period trying to persuade her to not give him a zero. By some miracle it'd worked(though he still needed to finish it tonight), but now he was running late.

And run he did. His only hope was to high tail it to the other side of the school where his science class was. It was alarming how empty the halls had become. He probably had less than half-a-minute left before the bell rang. But there it was! The door, the glorious door, all he needed to do was complete the remaining meter between himself and the door and he'd be-

_Ring! Ring! Ring!_

Too late…

* * *

><p>"Stupid zero tolerance policy," Rick grumbled in the hallway. "It's not like I <em>wanted<em> to be late."

Richard glumly sat in the hall outside his classroom door. Thankfully, this was his first offense this semester, so he'd merely been sent to the hall with a warning rather than sent to the principal for a _long_ chat. Of course, it was only the fourth week of the semester, so this was rather foreboding.

_Well, no point sulking about it,_ thought Rick. _If I must be out here, I might as well do something fun._

Richard pulled the Digivice from his belt. "Hey, Guilmon. How you feel about heading to _Digital World_ for a bit?"

"You mean it? Can we please!"

Richard smiled. Guilmon could be like this for a rather long time after a particularly exhausting battle. Just being so hyped up and violent for a few minutes or hours could leave him in a happy/ giddy phase for a week or more. It was cute, but soon grew rather annoying. Hopefully some minor combat would return Guilmon to normal. As long as they didn't run into Ogremon, anyway…

"You bet, pal!" laughed Richard, pushing such worrisome thoughts from his head for the time being. If things got bad, he could just log off. "Let's go!"

Rick quickly set up his D-Terminal and jacked in his Digivice. "Guilmon, Download!"

As usual, Guilmon readily materialized in Native Forest. After becoming reacquainted with his surroundings, an ecstatic Guilmon turned back to his Tamer. "We're here! Yeah! Now what?"

Richard thought. He needed something for Guilmon to fight, but he couldn't just go around sicking him on innocent Digimon, that'd be what a D-Fighter would do. He needed either a violent vagrant or another Digimon who also wanted to fight.

If he asked nicely, he could probably get a moderator to fight him, but they were unlikely to hold back, and he doubted Guilmon was quite prepared for a beating like that at a moment. Used to be, File Island was brimming with vagrants, but Guilmon and Terriermon had cleaned them out long ago. And most Tamers considered File Island too outdated to spend any significant amount of time on. Rick had sent Guilmon to the island by habit, but now that he thought about it, it most likely would have been best to send him to Folder or Server Continent instead. It'd be too much of a pain to re-down load him now. That left one option: Ogremon.

_Wait, wait- no. I can't do that. I saw him kill a Digimon. Making Guilmon fight him would be highly irresponsible. But wait- didn't Guilmon spare one of those Goblimon in the fight before hand? _Richard vaguely recalled Guilmon going up against three opponents, killing two with _Fire Mitt_, and leaving the third one unconscious.

Rick looked at his partner. "You know what? I think I have an idea."

**Insert Line Here**

Coela Beach was truly beautiful. The sea could be seen in all its magnificence. Back when File Island was a major Tamer spot, it had been a very frequently visited area. Of course, none of this really concerned Guilmon at the moment.

"_**Pyro Sphere!**_" Guilmon fired another projectile at his vagrant opponent, but the Goblimon easily blocked with his bone club. They'd been fighting for almost ten seconds now and neither had scored a critical hit.

Richard yawned. "You know, you've been killing these guys by the dozen for a while now, I didn't think one would give you so much trouble."

"**Shut up! Haven't you ever heard of Conservation of Ninjutsu?**" Guilmon stabbed his enemy in the shoulder, causing the vagrant to fall backwards.

"Foolish dragon!" howled the vagrant. "You believe yourself to be strong, but only the weak allow themselves to be controlled by a human! Only Vagrants, who have been liberated from mediocrity, may find true strength! Just as my leader Ogremon did, some day we shall all surpass our weak, enslaved brethren behind and become true Digimon!"

"**Alright, I'm done.**" And with that, Goblimon was incinerated in a great inferno. Hopefully he'd be more agreeable in the next life. "**So, what do we kill next?**"

Richard winced. Maybe his plan had worked too well. "Guilmon, we can't just go around killing stuff! It's not… polite."

Guilmon hissed. "**Polite be **_**damned**_**! That freak got me pissed off! So unless you got something for me, maybe I'll go find my own mark! Like that Champion bastard we didn't finish last night!**"

Just as Richard began to get concerned, a chuckle resonated from behind the red Virus Digimon. "If your that desperate for something to fight, how 'bout you try us?"

Richard gaped. Behind Guilmon stood Kotemon, a Data attribute Rookie level Digimon. He wore a kendo mask and other types of armor. Beneath that, he seemed rather reptilian, considering his tail and feet(which were the only place on his body were flesh was exposed). The sleeves were too long for his stubby arms, but his fingers gripped a kendo sword(though it really couldn't be called a sword, considering it was made of bamboo and had no sharp or pointy edges and a circular holt).

But it wasn't the Digimon who made his jaw drop. Beside Kotemon stood the person who had spoken to them. He was a Tamer. A _human _Tamer. Unlike any Tamer Rick had ever seen, this boy did not manifest in the _Digital World_ as a disembodied screen, but he appeared as a complete, three-dimensional being. _How does he do it?_ wondered Richard. _Did he hack a Kinetic or something?_

The Tamer smiled at Richards shocked expression. "Yeah, I get that a lot. My names Kenza, pleased to make you acquaintance."

"**Enough with the ****pleasantries! You said we'd fight! Let's do this!"**

"Eager are we?" replied Kenza. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll get to business eventually. But let's see what your Tamer has to say first, he hasn't made a sound since we showed up."

Richard sized up the mysterious Tamer. He wore a black tea-shirt with two crossed swords on it, over the swords was what appeared to be the image of a Greymon skull. Rick recognized the symbol immediately. It was the logo of D-Master Forums, an elite website community composed of bright Tamers who sought to improve their Digimon(_maybe that's how he projected himself here)._ If he remembered right Dan was a member. Below that he wore some brown jeans held up by a belt. Attached to the belt was a sheathe. Within the sheathe was a long exquisite blade.

Even without his partner, this Tamer was an intimidating fellow.

"So, will you except my challenge?"

Rick snapped awake. "How are you here? I- I mean, how do you project your whole body here?"

Kenza smirked. "Tell you what, if you defeat me, I'll tell you how I do this. Deal?"

"And if I lose?"

"Well, you hand over all your money- digital money, of course."

Richard gulped. "All- all right! Your on! Get him, Guilmon!"

"**Now were talking! **_**Fire Mitt!"**_

Guilmon's claws ignited with fire and he lashed wildly at his target. But Kotemon was a skilled warrior and easily avoided the attacks. He did a back flip before kicking sand in his rivals eyes, temporarily blinding him. As Guilmon attempted to claw the sand out of his eyes, Kotemon began his counterattack.

"_Hot Head!" _Suddenly, Kotemon's mask was also on fire. The reptile Digimon face-butted Guilmon in the stomach, leaving an impression of his mask burned in. Guilmon screamed and lashed out with his flaming claws. Once again, the burning samurai avoided his attack.

"Guilmon!" yelled Rick. "You can't panic! Your vision is gone for the moment, but there are other senses to rely on! Use your brain!"

Guilmon nodded and stood completely still. For a minute all was quiet. Only the sounds of the ocean proved to Guilmon that the world was still there. Then his opponent struck.

"_Hot Head!"_

"Now Guilmon!"

Artfully, the Virus twisted his body around till he faced his blade wielding rival. With one claw he grabbed the Digimon's face, inserting a different finger into three slots in his mask. The other claw he stabbed into Kotemon's shoulder to hold him in place. He then twisted his first claw till several slots in the mask snapped, not noticing the Rookie's tears of pain which evaporated from the heat of his "Hot Head" maneuver.

Furious at the damage done to his face mask, Kotemon gritted his teeth and shoved Guilmon backwards, collapsing as the claws exited his shoulder. Shakily, Kotemon regained his footing and stared in mute horror as Guilmon rose from the sea, eyes free of sand and sight regained.

"**Now, my friend, it would appear you are done."**

Tears of fear streamed down Kotemon's face as he releashed his battle cry and ran at the virus.

"_Thunder Kote!"_

With one mighty, electrolyzing punch, Kotemon sent Guilmon back into the sea, following closely behind. He had a strategy in mind, and while he couldn't be sure if it were good or bad, it was better than nothing.

Guilmon shook off the paralyzing effects of one hundred volts of electricity and stood up in the water. "**Is that all you got? I've killed Fresh levels tougher than you!"**

"_Thunder Kote! Thunder Kote! Thunder Kote!"_

Richard watched in terror as Guilmon's vibrations increased. Clearly electricity was an effective weapon. "Guilmon! You have to get out of the water! It conducts electricity!"

Guilmon smiled sluggishly as he shrugged off his Tamers advice. A steady stream of data floated out from his mouth. He pondered what organs in question had been fried to a crisp so far in the fight. Hopefully they didn't include his frontal lobe, or this was probably a bad idea.

"**Ya know, for a swordsmen, your really not too fond of using that bamboo-thingy, are you?"**

While in some ways this had the intended effect, overall it was a large miscalculation. The pain and agony of one who die through the powers of lightning is lucky man compared to the fool who dares insult a swordsman. A samurai, who would willingly sacrifice themselves for the sake of honor, has little regard for the fool who undermines his talents with a (kendo)blade.

Kotemon ran forward and viciously upward slashed Guilmon's stomach and(though they did not know it) crushing his kidneys.

"_**Pyro Blast!"**_ yelled Guilmon as he sailed through the air, launching a fireball at his foe. Kotemon easily slashed the attack in half with his kendo sword before leaping in to the air to give chase. As he saw the Virus sink into the depths, he lifted his rounded blade in order to plunge it into the beasts chest only for it to sink into

-nothing.

Kotemon looked down into the depths which he began to sink into. It was not till now that he considered how impractical his heavy armor was for semi-aquatic battle. Somehow, he could not see this working in his favor.

A red claw stabbed through his left leg and began dragging him down. Below Kotemon, a red, draconic face grinned in victory. Panicking the Data Digimon slashed wildly at the dragons arm, hoping to avoid his horrible fate.

Guilmon calmly shrugged off the pathetic blows as the water around them began to fill with data. Thanks to Dan(who had improved Guilmon, Tanemon, and Terriermon with D- Modifiers) he could stay submerged for very long. He had a feeling that Kotemon could not do the same.

After a moment, Kotemon fell still. Victorious, Guilmon wrenched his claw free and returned to shore.

"I got him, Richard!" laughed Guilmon. "He's just about dissolved at this point!"

"Great!" congratulated Rick. He had to admit, he hadn't be certain of their victory here. Kenza's ability to appear I the _Digital World _was rather intimidating and Richard had assumed he'd live up to the hype. "Well, Kenza, time to pay up! How are you here?"

Kenza shook his head. "I overestimated you. A wise Tamer should not count his eggs before they hatch."

"Isn't that supposed to be chicks?" asked Rick(sad that he hadn't gotten his cherished information, but still to disturbed by this man to be angry) as Guilmon fumed.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean? I killed your partner! So you might as wel-"

At that moment, a one-legged Kotemon in mangled armor leapt from the sea, kendo sword raised high in preparing a second blow.

"**This is gonna suck."**

Kotemon's sword struck Guilmon in the face, flooring him. Combining this attack to the internal damage from earlier, and Guilmon didn't really feel like getting up.

Rick watched in horror as his partner degenerated Gigimon, Guilmon's In-Training form.

"You think this is over?" growled Gigimon, too cute to be taken as a serious threat. "I'll bend you into a pretzel and toss you right back into the sea! I refuse to lose! I-"

"Chill, Guilmon", shied Rick. He wasn't really surprised, but for a moment there he really thought they would win.

Kenza smiled condescendingly. "Tell you what kid, you can keep your cash for now. Unless, of course, you want to continue the fight."

For a moment, Rick considered it. He sized up the combatants. Guilmon had regressed, true, but he still seamed willing to fight and not to happy about his loss. And as for Kotemon, he was a Rookie, at least twice as strong as Gigimon. But on the other hand, he wasn't exactly in fighting shape. His face mask had been torn, a chunk of his shoulder had been cut out, and he was missing a leg. Despite that, the look in his eyes showed determination. And he was clearly smarter than he looked, too. Guilmon may be a berserker, but he was no idiot. And yet, Kotemon had managed to convince him he was dead.

No, continuing this fight would be irresponsible and pointlessly cruel to Guilmon . If he did that then he'd be no better than D-Fighters.

"Alright, you win", conceded Richard. "But seriously, could you just please tell me how your projecting your body into this place?"

Kenza thought about it for a second, then a smiled crossed his face. "Alright, you really want to know how I make myself appear here?"

Richard nodded.

"Fine then. I don't. I'm a chosen digital warrior who pops in here whenever I like."

Richard blinked. After a few seconds, both Tamers laughed and said there good byes. _Jerk_, thought Richard.

"_D-Modify! Second Wind!" _yelled Kenza, healing his Digimon. Rick couldn't help but notice that Kenza had also project his Digivice and D-Modifiers into the_ Digital world_ as well. Kenza and Kotemon then walked off to Yggdrasil-knows-where.

_Man, I get that he just didn't want to tell me,_ thought Rick._ But he didn't have to be so obnoxious about it._

"Rick? Can we go now?"

Richard looked t his partner. It had been a long time since Guilmon had last been beaten so hard he actually de-digivolved. It had clearly taken it's toll on his self-esteem. This was the first time he'd ever asked to leave the _Digital World._

The warrior's Tamer smiled understandingly. "Sure pal. A moment. Gigimon, Log Off!"

* * *

><p>"<em>-or a special announcement. I repeat, all students and class faculty please report to the Secondary Gym for a special announcement."<em>

As Richard regained his focus on the world around him, he managed to catch the tail end of a message to the student body. Luckily, it looked like he'd gotten the important part. He quickly found Dan and Corey in the mad dash for the Secondary Gym.

"Hey guys, what's going on? I think I missed part of what they said. Why are we going to the gym?"

"Didn't you hear?" gasped Corey overdramatically. "There's been a _murder!_"

"_Huh?_ Your not serious! Who was it?"

Corey laughed. "Just testing you. Man, your really weren't paying attention. Did you go to sleep in school again?"

"More likely he was on his D-Terminal." murmured Dan, half paying attention and half fiddling with his Digivice.

"You really shouldn't do that, Rick. Having that in school is a privilege, not a right. You could get serious detention time." said Naoki.

All eyes turned to the elementary school student. "What are you doing here?"

Corey's little sister shrugged. "The grade school classes were called here for a 'special announcement' in your Secondary Gym. I don't know what it's about."

"Hmm…" thought Dan. "Well, the Secondary Gym has been closed for the past four months. Maybe this has something to do with that. Whatever they did in there, it must be big if their calling in the grade school kids too."

Rick nodded in agreement. "Well, I guess will find out what it is soon enough."

* * *

><p>As they filed into the gym to sit on the wooden risers, they saw what all the fuss was about. Well, more like the saw the sheet covering what all the fuss was about. In the center of the Secondary Gym(which was rather large(though not as large as the main gym) painted green, and covered with mats) there sat a podium-on-wheels. On the ground before it was a large white sheet. Annoyingly, instead of spreading thinly so as to provide any hint towards the surprise, the men in charge had decided to leave it rather muddled, hiding all things they may have been under it from view.<p>

As the Tamers(and Naoki) sat down, their principal dawned the podium. "Students and faculty of Odaiba Jr. High, I would like to say how pleased I am to see this day come to pass. Now while many of you may not know this I am an avid Diginerd and-would at least like to believe I am-a competent Tamer. Ever since Digimon became a mainstream "hobby", I have dreamed in somehow involving my school in the phenomenon. However, certain-perfectly respectable-members of our system have called this pastime a "exercise in animal abuse" and a "pointless waste of resources". However, after many negotiations, and many fundraisers, my dream has finally realized. Hint the switch boys!"

Suddenly, metallic objects on the ceiling which the students had taken for emergency sprinklers bathed the main gym floor in light. Many colors raced around the podium in a state of confusion. Dan could not help but compare the nightmarishly chaotic spectacle to a pre-Big Bang universe.

"As you may remember, at the beginning of the year, each of you was required to allow faculty to scan your Digivices for potential dangers before allowing them to be brought to school. I'm pleased to say that was not the scans only purpose. While we were at it, we also included a wi-fi connection from the school's main computer to fully connect to your Digivice. And while, yes, you could potentially use this to have your Digimon talk to a teacher for you or check your grades, it's main purpose was this."

The student body watched in amazement as the once shapeless mass of colors formed into one hundred and forty-three Digimon. The high tech projections all appeared in amazing three-dimensions. Richard was instantly reminded of the camp he and Dan had been kicked out of that allowed them to see their partners in 3-D on a nature hike. This seemed to be a similar technology. And it provoked just as much awe.

The Digimon themselves also seemed amazed. They happily observed the environment around them, shocked to be in the human world, if only artificially. The only one who didn't seemed uncontrollably amazed was Oryxmon, the principal's partner. The great black goat had a armored plate which covered his forehead, a red jewel rested in it's center. It's curved horns were golden and a large medal gorge wrapped around it's neck. Each of it's ankles was a iron restraint with a small broken chain attached to it. Despite all this heavy medal, the gigantic goat(which was as tall as the principal despite traveling on all four limbs) carried itself with pride.

Oryxmon spoke into the microphone. "If all Digimon could orderly return to their Tamers, we'd me much obliged."

After a moment, the Digimon approached the risers and climbed onto their respective Tamers lap(or if they were very large, sat beside them). Since their bodies were projected rather than real, the risers had no problem holding the weight.

Dan looked over and realized there was a creature sitting beside Naoki as well, though it could hardly be called three dimensional. It resembled Agumon, if Agumon were flat, pixilated(8-bit style), and about as tall as an infant with dwarfism.

"Um, Naoki, what is that thing?"

"DotAgumon", she said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked like a big, grey Nintendo DS. "It's a training Digimon. It teaches you how to take care of a real Digimon so that when you get a real one you'll know how."

"I see", he said. "But doesn't it feel bad about being ditched?"

"No. It doesn't have personality programming like a real Digimon."

"Oh, okay then."

Meanwhile, Tamer's and Digimon happily spoke of their principal's inventiveness and their joy and seeing each other in this new way. Their respect for the principal who soon vanish(as it does with young people) but their wonder would not easily fade.

"Guilmon! This is show neat!"

"Rei! I finally may see you in your three dimensional glory, oh great creator. I-I'm not worthy…"

"D-D-Dan! Is this ya-your school? It seems like an awfully odd place…"

"Oh, Kazemon! I can finally see your full beauty! Now if only I could touch it… and squeeze it…"

(Okay, that last one was creepy. Moving along now.)

"Eh-hem", spoke the principal. "Thank you. Well, now that I've let that cat out of the bag, this should hardly come as a surprise." The rather portly gentlemen then dismounted the podium and took hold of one corner of the great white sheet. "If I may…"

As he drew back the sheet, his final surprise came into view. Their, in the floors center was the same disk which Richard had seen the night before. As Corey closely observed the room, she saw a large cement box in the corner with several glowing windows, most likely the programmers' box. And then the principal's plan was clear, he had remade the Secondary Gym into the perfect location for students to battle. And indeed it was perfect(if a bit on the smallest side). His work revealed, all the principal could do was smile.

"Well, now that we have that, the next step is obvious! We must choose the first two Tamers to use this Arena. This completely up to you students to decide. Does any one have a nomination?"

Forty hands were raised n the span of three seconds. After a moment, the principal casually pointed at Dan. "Yes?"

Note from CFK: Yes I know, a horrible end to the chapter. Hopefully you like the rest though. Please review! It'll will get the next chapter up sooner, and I'm sure you all want to know who Rick will fight this time. Lets see.


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